Improvement in sewing-machines



R. W. DREW.

Sewing Machine.

Patented Nov. 5, 1861.

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UNITED SrATEs PATENT OFFICE.

REUBEN W. DREYV, OF ABINGTON, MASS, ASSIGNOR TO A. B. ELY.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0.'33,677, dated November5, 1861.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, REUBEN W. DREW, of Abington, in the county ofPlymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvementsin Machines for Sewing on the Soles ot' Boots and Shoes; and the sameare fully described and represented in the following specification andaccompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my machine. Fig.2 is a verticalsection of a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a front view of the partsunderneath the table. Fig. 4 is a view of the adjustable eccentric.

A patent has heretofore been issued to one Lyman E. Blake for a machinein which a rest was placed on the end of an arm to reach into the toe ofa shoe; but it was not adapted to sewing around toes or heels, orotherwise around circles, or short corners, or angles, as no means wereprovided for revolving the needle as the work progressed round a curve,in order that the relative position of the needle to the seam might bepreserved, nor of revolving the thread-guide correspondingly with theneedle, besides other great deficiencies in practice.

My improvements, which are considerable in number and importance, haveregard, among other things, to such a construction and arrangement ofthe parts that the lines of the arm shall be straight instead of in acurve; that the needle and its adjuncts, as well as also thethread-guide, may be continuously revolved and correspondingly changedin their position for the purpose of sewing circles, curves, and angles,as desired; that the throw of the eccentric or crank, and also thelength of the needle-bar, may be altered and adjusted for differentkinds and thicknesses of work; that the feed may form a guidingpoint forthe needle and space the stitches, and that the cast-off, as well asother parts, may conform to difl'erent thicknesses of material, while italso forms a support to the needle.

A A is the body or frame. 13 is the standard; G, the goose-neck, havingstrapped to its end a hollow chambered revolving cylinder, S, throughwhich passes the needle-bar, and in which are placed the devices foroperating, by means of the needle-bar, the cast-off and feed.

D is the main shaft, and E the balancewheel.

F is an adjustable eccentric on the shaft D,

G being the eccentric-rod, the strap of which is tightened up at p. Theupper end of the eccentric-rod is pivoted at a to one end of awalking-beam, H, oscillating near the center of the goose-neck at b. Tothe other end of the walking-beam, at 0, is pivoted a strap, 01, with aprojecting tongue or pin, Q)", on the under side. This pin '0 passesthrough oneend of a small bar or cap-plate, e, and is confined at agreater or less altitude by a set-screw, g, for the purpose ofgraduatingthe length of the needle-bar when the throw of the eccentric is changed,so as to keep the lowermost point of descent of the needle unchanged. Tothe other end of this plate e the needle-bar I is hung and pivoted bymeans of the screw or boltf. The needle-bar I, with a barbed needle, J,at its end, passes through the cylinder S, while by means of the feathera on its side, taking into a corresponding groove in the head of thecylinder, the needle-bar, with its accessories, revolves with thecylinder.

K is the arm, placed at an acute anglewith the bed of the machine andfastened to it at f. This angle is such as to enable the rest R at theend of the arm to enter freely into the toe of the boot or shoe. Thelines of the arm are straight instead of curved.

L is a cam-cylinder hung so as to be moved longitudinally on the mainshaft D, and revolving with the shaft by means of the feather w on theshaft taking into a corresponding groove in the cylinder L. At the endand on a collar of this cam-cylinder is a strap, 3 in which thecam-collar revolves. From the rear of this strap y projects a pin, z,extending through a slot, 1), cut in the rear side of the machine-frame.

h is a slotted cam-groove cut in the cylinder L, in which plays afriction-roller, t.

M is a bent lever pivoted to the bed-plate of the machine atj, andhaving at one end the friction-roller 1', running in the cam-groove h.By this means a lateral reciprocal motion as the cam L revolves is givento the other end ofthe lever M, which is slotted perpendicularly at k.

N is a straight ratchet or geared bar running in ways in on across theunder side of the machine, with its gear-teeth at an angle correspondingwith that .of the arm K, and having at one end a pin, 1, projectingdownward and into the slot 70 of the bent lever M. By this embracing theneedle at a, and U is the feedis a small notch, it, into which theshoulder means a reciprocal motion back and forth across I the machineis given to the bar N.

O is a rod passing up through a supportingboX, 0, and the lower side ofthe arm K, and having a gear-wheel, a, at the lower end, the teeth ofwhich take into the teeth of the bar N. By this means the reciprocalmotions of N oscillate or rotate back and forth the rod 0. The upper endof 0 is geared, beveling at p, and these gear-teeth take into thegear-teeth of a circular thread-guide or whirl, r, inclosed in the restB of the arm K. Thus while the needle is reciprocated up and down bythe-action of the eccentric, walking-beam, and needle-bar thethreadguide or whirl is reciprocated round and back for the purpose ofpresenting the loop to the needle by the action of. the cam, bent lever,geared bar, and geared rod. 011 the top of the rest R is a small platefastened down by'a screw at q.

T is the cast-off, made with a circular eye ing-point, both beingoperated by the motions of the needle-bar. The feed-point U is made fastby a set-screw to a plunger, 5, which extends upward into a chamberedfeed-rod, 3, which is pivoted to the upper head of the cylinder at 4,and has a lateral play on this pivot. \Vithin the chamber of the rod 3is a spiral spring, 6, to press the feed-point to the work. On theopposite or back side of Fig. 2, upward from the plunger 5, extends arod, 01, with a pin, 0, projecting backward near its top. j is a flatspring fastened to the cylinder at 70', and pressing the rod 3 andfeeding device outward and away from the needle. The cast-oft T, withits hollow point a, encircling the needle and materially strengtheningand aiding it in drawing up the stitch, is made fast by a set-screw to aplunger, 8, whichp tsses through a hollow rod, 7, fastened to the lowerhead of the cylinder S, and having a spiral spring, 9, in its upper partto press the cast-off to the work and adapt it to different thicknessesof material. At the upper end of the plunger 8 of the spring g takeswhen it ascends.

10 is a thin slotted sliding plate on the under side of the lower headof the cylinder, surrounding both the swinging rod 3 and the needle-barI, and held up to the cylinder by screws through slots at w.

y is a flat spring fastened to thelower head of the cylinder at t' andprojecting upward, and having a shoulder at g.

f is a small plate fastened on the side of the needle-bar I, having aquadrant-shaped pin projecting out from its rear, as shown by red. linesat L".

h is a post rising from thelower head of the cylinder and standing onthe back side of the needle-arm, to the top of which post, at I), ispivoted a lever, a, one end of which acts underneath and upon the pin 0'to raise the feedplunger 5. To the other end is fastened a small spiralspring, e, fastened at its other end to the cylinder at k".

t" is a small screw or pin projecting from the plunger 8 of thecast-off, and sliding up and down in a slot, g, of the hollow rod 7.

j is a cam projection fastened to the needlebar below the cylinder, andcapable of being adjusted to any proper height, having a step and anincline, the one to strike against the pin i and raise the cast-offplunger 8, the other to strike against the sliding plate 10, and bymoving it inward give a side swing to the feedbars 3 and 5 andfeed-point U toward the me dle.

When the needle-bar I descends the projection 1 strikes upon the top ofone end of the lever a, forcing the other end upward against the pin 0,and thus raises the feed-point. The lower edge of the platef, strikingagainst the top of the spring g and pressing it back, releases itsshoulder from the notch h in the cast-oh" plunger 8, and allows the castoff to descend and rest upon the upper surface of the material. When theneedle-bar ascends the step in the cam projection j meets the pint" andraises the cast-off till the shoulder of the spring g takes into thenotch h and holds it suspended till the needle again descends. At thesame time (the pressure of the quadrantshaped pin Z. upon the lever athaving been released) the feedlunger descends, and the incline on j,striking against the sliding plate 10, moves inward the feed-pointtoward the needle, when it is ready for another descent of theneedle-bar. I

b and 0 are straps for supporting and holding the cylinder S to thegoose-neck 0, allowing it to turn freely round.

Y, Fig. l, is arevolving standard bracketed to the goose-neck at theside and back of the revolving cylinder S. This standard has agear-wheel,2,onits top,meshinginto the geared head 1 of the cylinder.

Z is a wheel at the bottom of the standard for handling and turning itby hand.

V is a bent lever pivoted to the lower back side of the frame at an, andhaving pivoted to it at one end the connecting-rod W, which extends upthrough the standard B, and is pivoted at its upper end at, v, to across-beam, X, which oscillates at it upon bearings, and has at itsfarther end a friction-roller,t, which runs in a cam-slot, 8, out in theperiphery of the revolving c linder S. At the other end of the bentlever Vis a slot-,y,through which passes the pin 2 of the slidingcam-cylinder L.

As the cylinder S is revolved the ca m-slot 8, operating by thefriction-roller t through the cross-beam X, the connecting-rod W, andthe bent lever '11, causes the sliding carncylinder L to movelongitudinally upon the main shaft by means of the pin zin the slot 3 ofthe lever V, and thus as the cam L revolves with the shaft, by means ofthe feather on the shaft through the cam-slot h, bent lever M,

ratchet-bar N, and rod 0, the thread-guide 0r whirl r is correspondinglyrevolved with the revolutions of the cylinder S and the needlebar andneedle, so that in this manner, while the position of thebarh oftheneedleis'changed, the position or direction of the thread iscorrespondingly changed, each preserving to the other the same relativeposition to enable the needle to take the loop, and the operator to sewaround corners and curves or angles.

Ordinarily, in the sewing of curves, &c., it is necessary to controlthis movement step by step as the work progresses, and for this reason Ihave adapted the standard Y, with its handle Z, that I may control thechange and revolutions of the needle and thread-guide or whirl stitch bystitch; but in order that a reg- -.ular change of the position of theneedle and thread, in cases where a certain defined circle or part of acircle is to be sewed, as in the heels and round some toes of boots andshoes, 850., may be made automatically, I have devised the followingmechanism:

it" is a bent lever on the outside of the gooseneck, pivoted to it at E.

m is a pin fixed in the rear end of the walking-beam H, and passingthrough a slot in the upper end of the lever k at a. To the other end ofthe lever is, atp, is pivoted, at one end of it, a rod, 0, having itsother end pivoted at r to a projectioms, on a strap, 6, passing roundthe cylinder S and moving loosely on it.

d is a circle of gear-teeth cut in the periphcry of the cylinder S, oron air annular wheel secuied theretoimmediately above the strap e.

t is a forked dog with a handle, q, pivoted on the projection s ot' thestrap 6 at c, and having a spring, to, so arranged that either orneither of the ends or teeth of the dog t may take into the gear-teeth cIn this way, the np-and-down motion of the walking-beam beingcommunicated by the pin m, through the bent lever k and rod '0, to thedog t, the cylinder is revolved either way, or not at all, at will.

In a bracket fastened to the standard B at m is hung the spool P,,inbearings atw y,

the latter being in a fiat spring, at, set into the back of the bracketand parallel with the end. A set-screw, Z, passes through the fartherend of the bracket and strikes against this spring n and regulates thetension on the spool.

q" is the thread passing through the channel Qand up through thethread-guide or whirl r. I also use an adjustable eccentric, so as tochange the throw of the eccentric or crank, 850.

o" is an elongated shaft-hole of the 800M1- trio F, the strap of theeccentric-rod being sole into the whirl.

and adapt it to different thicknesses and quality of material, &c.

By means of the pin 1; in the cap-plate e of the needle-barand theset-screwy, I am also enabled to alter and adjust the length of theneedie-bar, so that while I alter the throw of the eccentric I amenabled to preserve unchanged the point to which the needle must descendto take theloop.

The feeding-point U, striking on and into the material in advance of theneedle and feeding up the work, spaces the distance between the stitchesand forms a guiding-pointt'br the needle, impressing the place where itshall strike.

I am aware that tambouring-machines have been made in which the needleand the threadguide could be revolved in one direction and to a certainextent; but as that, so far as I can; learn, was done by means of acoiled spring or wound cord, the revolutions could proceed only in onedirection and only to a limited eX- tent, when it became necessary tounwind and begin again. Besides, these machines were not, as I canlearn, provided with any feeding mechanism or cast-off devices. i

\Vith my machine I can revolve the needle or needle and thread-guide, aswell as also the feed and cast-oft, in either direction and to anyextent, or proceed, after revolving, without any change by unwinding orotherwise, and preserve the relative position of each part to the other.

The method of forming the stitches in sequence is as follows: The threadhaving been carried up through the thread-guide, the shoe is placed onthe arm,with the rest inside of it. A channel may have been previouslycut or formed around the shoe in which the stitches lie, which is closedover after the shoe is sewed to conceal the seam. The needle is broughtdown through the sole, the upper, and thein- Then the needle reaches itslowest point the whirl is thrown around and the thread is laid acrossthe barb of the needle. The needle is now retreated, drawing up the loopwith it. As soon as the neodle is withdrawn the shoe is fed forward onestitch, and then the needle again descends. As' the needle descends theloop is shed from the barb, and the cast-off descends until it reachesthe work. The loop is now around the cast-oft, and also around theneedle. The needle takes another loop and ascends, (the cast-offpreventing the previous loop from falling into the barb again,) and inascending with a new loop carries it up through the former loop, andthen the cast-0d rises, and the needle, as it rises, also draws up thestitch. The shoe is fed forward again one stitch with the second looparound the needle, and thusthe seam or series of stitches are formed.

Having described my machine, what I claim as my invention, and desire tosecure by Letthat the needle-bar of a sewing-machine can be continuouslyrevolved in either direction at the will of the operator as thestitching I progresses.

2. So constructing. arranging, and combining the needle-bar andfeed-bar, or theirequivalents. in a sewing-machine that they can becontinuously revolved either way and preserve their relative positions.

3. Soconstructingand arranging thethreadguide or whirl in asewing-machine thatit can be continuously revolved and present thethread to the needle in any desired position of the needle.

4. So constructing and combining the needle and thread-guide with eachother that any change of position of the needle may be accompanied by acorresponding change of position of the thread-guide either way, orcontinuously in either direction.

5. In combination with a rotating needlestock, so arranging andoperating the feed that it shall form a guiding-point in advance of theneedle and space the distances between the stitches.

6. So constructing the cast-ofi' that it shall surround the needle andform a support to it While the stitch is being formed or drawn up.

7. So constructing the cast-off as that it may conform itself to thethickness of the work by means of a spring-pressure.

parts for altering and adjusting the throw of the crank, substantiallyas described.

12. The mechanism for revolving the needle and the parts immediatelyconnected therewith by hand, that the seam maybe laid in any desireddirection as the sewing proceeds, as in curves, angles, and lines asthey occur in sewing on boot and shoe soles.

REUBEN WV. DREW.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN G. PRATT, WM. E. THOMPSON.

